Chapter Two

Ethan

“Becky, where's my phone charger? The one with the little climber guy etched on it?”

Ethan opened the drawer to his desk just to check that he hadn't overlooked it the first time. He liked this particular charger because it was customized. He could have sworn he had put it in his top desk drawer like always, but it wasn't there no matter how many times he opened and closed the drawer.

“I thought you kept it in your desk?” Becky replied, poking her head in through the open door to his office. She frowned. “Is it not there?”

“No,” he replied, shutting the drawer a little more forcefully than necessary. He sighed. “Will you find me a different one for my trip? My flight's in an hour.”

“Of course, sir,” Becky replied with a cheerful smile.

He mentally wrote off the charger and continued packing his computer bag for his trip. Except, nothing seemed to be where he put it last.

“Becky? Have you seen my pens?” he called out when he discovered his stash of pens was missing as well. “Did you clean my desk?”

Becky came back to the office door. She shook her head, making her short blonde hair fall in her eyes.

“No, sir. You told me not to mess with your desk without permission when you hired me.” She thought for a moment. “Maybe it was the cleaning crew? We did just hire some new staff.”

“Well, all my pens are gone,” he explained, pointing to the empty spot in his drawer. “I was looking for the one the President gave me.”

“The silver one with the gold top?” Becky came over and handed him a backup charger.

“That's the one,” he replied. He looked around his desk, and Becky started checking the rest of the office. He sighed as he closed another drawer on his desk. He wasn't just missing things. His entire desk was out of order. “Becky, will you please make a note to speak to the cleaning crew? I don't want my desk touched.”

“Of course, sir.” She walked around to the far side of the large office and bent over near the bathroom door. “Found it.” She held up the silver pen triumphantly.

“Thank you, Becky.” He couldn't figure out how his pen got on the floor. He kept all his pens in the drawer specifically so they wouldn't get lost. It was strange. He took the pen and placed it in his travel bag before glancing around the office to make sure he had everything he needed to get work done for the next few weeks.

“I've emailed you next week's schedule,” Becky told him. “And I wanted to remind you again that I'm taking off early tomorrow for my anniversary. It shouldn't cause any problems since you'll be out of town anyway, but I wanted to remind you.”

“That's right. You said Mr. Jones' secretary would be covering for you. I remember.” He smiled at her. She was an excellent secretary. She was calm and collected, and most importantly not interested in him in the slightest.

After the issues with Janie, his last secretary, he wasn't taking any chances on having another clingy, romance-wanting secretary who scheduled his life. Becky was happily married and, as an aside, not interested in men at all. That meant that combined with her amazing organization skills and multitasking ability, she was the best secretary in the world.

“How many years is it this year?” he asked.

Becky blushed like a schoolgirl. “It'll be seven years with Katie.”

“Congratulations,” he replied. She grinned like it was her very first anniversary and Ethan couldn't help but be happy for her. Love like that was meant to be celebrated.

“Thank you. Do you need anything else for your trip?” she asked.

Ethan glanced around the room. He still didn't know where the rest of his pens were, but he could manage without those. He looked back over at Becky.

“No, I think I'll be able to survive the flight,” he replied with a smile. “And if I can’t go the whole flight without ordering another phone charger, I'll just bill Carter for it.”

Becky chuckled as she headed back to her desk. He closed his bag and followed behind her, shutting the door to his corner office as he went.

“And Becky, have a wonderful anniversary,” he said as she sat at her desk. “Dinner's on me. Use the company card and go someplace really nice.”

“Thank you, Ethan.” Becky grinned. “I appreciate it.”

He shrugged. “Make sure you drop my name, so you get the best table,” he advised. “And seriously, go all out. Seven's a lucky year.”

“Thank you, sir. Katie will be so surprised,” Becky replied, the smile growing on her face. “Have a good flight. And tell Mr. Williamson congratulations on the new baby for me.”

“I will. Thank you again, Becky.” Ethan raised his hand and headed off toward the big elevators leading down to the main floor. He stopped halfway there and turned around. “Oh, who is security for me this trip since Bruce is out for his shoulder?”

Becky looked up from the desk. “Craig. Craig Daily,” she replied. “He volunteered for the trip.”

“He's the one from New York, right?” Ethan asked, trying to pull up an image of the guard.

“That's David,” Becky corrected him. “Craig is from San Francisco.”

Ethan thought for a moment. “Tall, dark hair, very quiet?”

“That's every security guard Bruce hires,” Becky replied with a chuckle.

“Good point,” Ethan agreed. They all seemed to fit the tall, dark, and brooding stereotype. “He's the one who helped with the Janie situation last year, right?”

Becky nodded. “That's him. He's been very loyal. One of Bruce's best.”

“Alright,” Ethan said with a nod. He could place Craig in his mind now. “I like him. It'll be a good trip.

“You'd better hurry,” Becky advised, tapping her watch. “You don't want to miss your fight.”

He thanked her and hurried off to the elevators. It was time to head to Colorado.